













O , A 






» 




^ .. . . _. _ . ^ rr ^^- -^ 




v^^ 







.- ^^^ '^Ml^^^\ "^^^rS o/^^Sk- ^^'^ " 




V^^ 






* 4? ^ • 









iti 



* 








1. ^± 




9 I 1 







* ■qS -^ 














V *'•<>* 























I 









^ 





.^^ 



^Q' 






4 ^ T ^^- >i 






o 

^'V' 






,V 



.i>^ 



^^ 



I' 



V* 






The Connecticut Society 

of The Order of 

The Founders and Patriots 

of America 

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 




> i > 



PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY 
June, 1907 



The Connecticut Society 
of The Order of 



u 



The Founders and Patriots 
of America 



CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 



PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY 
June, 1907 






DEC lt3i»1t 



THE TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR PRESS 



i4 

^^•^* CONSTITUTION. 

Preavtble. 

Recognizing Almiglity God as guiding our ances- 
tors to this land, to establisH of their descendants, not 
a Colony, but an independent sovereign Christian 
nation, destined by Him to occupy a commanding 
place among the nations of the earth, and to protect 
and defend liberty in all the Western Hemisphere, 
and recognizing that the foundations of the nation 
were laid in the perils and hardships of the first fifty 
years by our ancestor settlers of that period, rather 
than in the years that followed, and recognizing that 
necessary to that end for which our ancestors came 
was a patriot progeny in the time of the Revolution- 
ary struggle, out of which our country came to be 
independent and our nation came into being, for our- 
selves and those who may associate with us, we have 
formed an Association founded on descent from such 
ancestry and through their patriot descendants, and 
to that end, adopt the following Constitution : 



ARTICLE I. 

Name of the Society. 

This Society shall be known by the name, style and 
title of The Connecticut Society of the Order 
OF THE Founders and Patriots of America. 



— 4— 

ARTICLE II. 

Objects. 

The objects of this Society are : 

1. To bring together and associate congenial men, 
whose ancestors struggled together for life and liberty, 
home and happiness, in this land, when it was a new 
and unknown country, and whose line of descent 
from them comes through patriots who sustained the 
Colonies in the struggle for independence in the 
Revolutionary War. 

2. To teach reverend regard for the names and his- 
tory, character and perseverance, deeds and heroism, 
of the founders of this Country and their patriot 
descendants. 

3. To inculcate patriotism in the associates and 
their descendants. 

4. To discover, collect and preserve records, docu- 
ments, manuscripts, monuments and history relat- 
ing to the £rst Colonists, their ancestors and their 
descendants. 

5. To commemorate and celebrate events in the 
History of the Colonies and the Republic. 

6. Other historical and patriotic purposes. 



ARTICLE III. 
Qualifications for Membership. 

Section i. Any man of the age of twenty-one years, 
of good moral character and reputation, and a citizen 
of the United States, who is lineally descended, in the 



— 5— 

male line of either parent, from an ancestor who set- 
tled in any of the Colonies now included in the United 
States of America, prior to May 13, 1657, and one or 
all of whose intermediate ancestors, in the same line, 
who lived in the period of the Revolution, from 1775 
to 1783, adhered as patriots to the cause of the Colo- 
nies, shall be eligible to membership in the Society. 

Sec. 2. The male descendants of any associate, 
being of good moral character and reputation, and cit- 
izens of the United States, shall also be eligible to 
membership, provided that the claims of each such 
descendant shall be traced anew, from the qualifying 
ancestor from whom the first associate was eligible. 

Sec. 3. Any person who shall have obtained mem- 
bership by intentional misrepresentation or conceal- 
ment, as to his qualification for membership, or who 
shall be guilty of any violation of the Constitution or 
By-Laws of the Society, or who shall be guilty of con- 
duct unbecoming a patriot or a good citizen, after due 
inquirer and hearing, shall be expelled from member- 
ship in the Society. Any person who shall have 
obtained membership through an innocent but mate- 
rial misstatement or non-statement, shall, after due 
inquiry and hearing, be dropped from membership in 
the Society. 

Sec. 4. Any person who shall have obtained mem- 
bership as the descendant of an associate of the Soci- 
ety, shall, after due inquiry and hearing, be dropped 
from membership, in case it shall appear that the asso- 
ciate of the Order, from whom he was descended, was 
not qualified for membership. 

Sec. 5. Each associate shall sign the Constitution 



and By-Laws of the Society, either in person or by 
proxy, within three months after notice of election to 
membership, and failure to comply with this condi- 
tion without sn£B.cient reason being rendered in 
writing, shall render his election void. 

Sec. 6. The Society reserves to itself the privi- 
lege of rejecting any nomination that may not be 
acceptable to it. 



ARTICLE IV. 
Nomznatzojz and Election to Membership, 

Applicants for admission to membership in this 
Society must be proposed in writing by two associates 
of this Society in good standing. As complete an 
abstract as possible shall be furnished by each appli- 
cant regarding his ancestry and history upon which 
he may claim eligibility to membership in this Order 
together with the sum of Five dollars at the time his 
name is propounded for membership. 

The sum of five dollars thus paid shall be the ini- 
tiation fee in the event that the applicant shall become 
an associate. 

The abstract or application having been examined 
and approved by the Registrar as to lineage and eli- 
gibility, and approved by the Committee on Member- 
ship as to the social and moral qualifications of the 
candidate, shall be submitted to the Registrar General 
or Genealogist General and when duly approved by 
him shall be reported to the Society. The Society 
shall then ballot upon the approval or rejection of the 



applicant for membersliip. One negative ballot in 
every five cast or five negative ballots in all shall 
reject the applicant. 

If the ballot shall result favorably for the candi- 
date, he shall be declared elected. Should the 
candidate fail of an election, owing to a material dis- 
crepancy in his application papers, then the five dollars 
paid by him at the time his name was proposed shall 
be kept by the Society ; otherwise it shall be returned 
to him with his application papers. 

Upon election as herein provided and complying 
with Section 5 of Article III of this Constitution, the 
applicant shall be a member of this Society ; otherwise 
said election shall be void. 



ARTICLE V. 
Membership by Transfer. 

Any associate of another Society of the Order desir- 
ing to transfer his membership to this Society, or to 
be enrolled as an associate of this Society, as well as 
in the Society in which already enrolled, in either case 
must apply therefor in writing. In every case, such 
application must be accompanied by a certified copy 
of his application papers on which he was admitted to 
membership in the Order, and in case of his applica- 
tion to transfer, must also be accompanied by a letter 
of recommendation and dismission. All papers con- 
nected with said request shall be submitted to the 
Registrar, who shall examine the same and report to 



—8— 

• 

the Committee on Membership, and the matter shall 
then follow the regular course prescribed as in the 
case of an original application, excepting that no ref- 
erence to the Registrar General or Genealogist Gen- 
eral shall be required, unless upon an appeal from the 
decision of the Registrar. 

Any associate holding dual membership in this and 
any other Society, at the same time, shall pay dues to 
this Society as if enrolled in it only. 



ARTICLE VI. 

Transfer of Membership. 

Any associate in good standing, not in arrears or 
otherwise indebted to this Society, may be recom- 
mended for transfer to another Society of the Order, 
upon written application therefor to the Council. 



ARTICLE VII. 

Fees for Membership. 

The initiation fee shall be $5.00 payable upon mak- 
ing application for membership, which fee will be 
returned should the applicant fail of an election, 
except through a material error in his application 
paper, in which latter case said sum shall be retained 
by the Society. 



—9— 

The annual dues shall be $5.00 payable upon the 
iQtli day of April yearly unless the same shall be 
reduced by a two-thirds vote of the Council. Provided 
that the annual dues and initiation fee for new mem- 
bers shall be $5.00 for the current year of their admis- 
sion, but should admission take place between the 
dates of January 19th and April 19th, such payment 
shall be in full to April 19th of the following year. 

After payment of the initiation fee, a contribution 
of a sum equal to ten years' annual dues at one time 
shall constitute a life membership. 

All life members shall be exempt from the payment 
of annual dues from the date of their qualification 
as such. 



ARTICLE VIII. 
Annual Meeting and Election of Officers. 

The annual meeting of the Society shall be held at 
such place as the Society or Council shall determine, 
on the 19th day of April in each year, or at such other 
time, as near as may be thereafter, as the Governor or 
Council may determine. The Officers and Council 
shall be elected at the annual meeting by ballot, a 
majority of the ballots cast being necessary to consti- 
tute an election. Special meetings may be called at 
any time by the Governor or Council and shall be 
called by the Secretary upon the written request of 
seven members of the Society. 



ARTICLE IX. 
Suspension or Expulsion of Members, 

The Council shall have the power to suspend any 
enrolled associate of this Society who may, in the 
judgment of the Council, render himself unworthy to 
continue a member; Provided, that he shall have 
received at least thirty days' notice of the complaint 
preferred against him, and of the time and place for 
hearing the same, and have been thereby afforded an 
opportunity to be heard. And further provided, that 
unless said suspended member shall appeal to the 
Society within thirty days after date of such suspen- 
sion, and said action of the Council be disaffirmed by 
a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Society, 
present at a meeting called specially for the purpose 
of considering said appeal, such suspension shall be 
final, and the associate be expelled from the Society 
and Order, unless the decision of the Society shall be 
reversed upon appeal to the General Court to be taken 
within thirty days of said action. 



ARTICLE X. 
Amendments, 

This Constitution may be amended only , at an 
annual meeting of the Society by a two-thirds majority 
of all the votes cast ; provided, that the amendment 
has been proposed by ten associates, and notice thereof 
given by the Secretary at least one month before the 
annual meeting of the Society. 



BY-LAWS. 

Section I. 

Officers. 

The officers of the Society shall be a Governor, a 
Deputy Governor, a Chaplain, a Secretary, a Treas- 
urer, a States Attorney, a Registrar, a Genealogist 
and a Historian, each to hold office for one year, or 
until his successor is elected and installed. 

There shall also be nine Councillors and three 
Councillors shall be elected annually for the term of 
three years, or until their successors shall be elected 
and installed. 

The officers and Councillors shall constitute the 
Council. 

They shall be elected by ballot and no officer shall 
be elected to the same office for more than two succes- 
sive terms except by a unanimous vote. 

In case any person, elected as an officer or Council- 
lor of a Society, shall fail to file with its Secretary, 
within one month after notice by mail of his election, 
an acceptance in writing, the Council shall appoint 
an Associate to fill the position until the next annual 
meeting of the Society. The Council shall fill all 
vacancies in its numbers, until the next annual meet- 
ing of the Society. Any officer or Councillor may 
resign, by mailing his resignation to the Secretary 
of his Society. 



12 

Section II. 

Order of Business. 

1. Salutation of the Colors. 

2. Prayer by tlie Chaplain. 

3. Reading of minutes of last meeting. 

4. Reports of Officers and Committees. 

5. Unfinished business. 

6. New business. 

7. Election of officers. 



Section III. 
Quorum, 

At all meetings of the Society nine (9) members 
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi- 
ness. 



Section IV. 

Governor and Deputy Governor, 

The Governor, or in his absence the Deputy Gov- 
ernor, or in their absence a Chairman pro tempore^ 
shall preside at all meetings of the Society, and shall 
have a casting vote. He shall decide all questions of 
order, subject to an appeal to the Society. 

The Governor shall sign all diplomas when deliv- 
ered from the Registrar General for associates in this 
Society. 



—13— 
Section V. 

Secretary, 

The Secretary shall conduct the general correspond- 
ence of the Society under the direction of the Governor 
and Council. He shall notify all members of such 
matters as he may be directed by the Society or Coun- 
cil. He shall have charge of the seal, charter, and 
Constitution and By-laws, and records of the Society, 
other than those deposited with the Registrar. He, 
together with the presiding officer, shall certify all acts 
of the Society. He shall, under the direction of the 
Governor or Deputy Governor, give due notice of the 
time and place of all meetings of the Society and of 
the Council, and attend the same. He shall keep fair 
and accurate records of all the proceedings and orders 
of the Society, and of the Council, in books to be the 
property of the Society, and shall give notice to the 
several officers of all votes, orders, resolves and pro- 
ceedings of the Society and Council affecting them 
or appertaining to their respective duties. He shall 
notify the Registrar General of all suspensions and 
expulsions from membership, and of any re-instate- 
ment of suspended members. He shall be Secretary 
of the Council and shall keep the record of their 
meetings in the regular minute book of the Society. 
He shall keep a book of the Constitution and By-laws 
of the Order, and the By-laws of this Society, to be 
signed by all associates thereof, and which shall be 
the roll book of the Society. He shall also keep a 
register of the post-office addresses of all the members. 
He shall countersign all checks drawn by the Treas- 



•14— 



urer on the funds of the Society and keep a record 
thereof. He shall sign all diplomas when delivered 
from the Registrar General for Associates in this 
Society. He shall perform such other duties as may 
be required of him by the Society or its Council. 



Section VI. 

Treasurer, 

The Treasurer shall collect and have charge of the 
funds and securities of the Society; and all funds 
shall be placed in a depositary in the State of Con- 
necticut selected by the Council, to the credit of " The 
Connecticut Society of the Order of the Founders and 
Patriots of America/' and shall be paid out only upon 
orders signed by the Governor. He shall notify all 
members of their election and collect all fees and dues. 
He shall notify the Council, and also the Secretary of 
the Society, of all associates in arrears for six months. 
He shall keep proper books of account, which shall be 
the property of the Society, and open to the inspection 
of any member of the Council at all times, and at each 
annual meeting render a true and correct report to 
the Society, prior to which time his accounts shall 
have been audited by the Auditing Committee. He 
shall give such security as shall be required by the 
Council. 



—15— 

Section VII. 

States Attorney, 

The States Attorney sHall be the general legal 
adviser of the Society, and shall perform such other 
duties as the Society or its Council shall require. 



Section VIII. 

Registrar. 

The Registrar shall have custody of all applications 
for membership, and shall issue the same as required 
and provided by the Council. He shall receive the 
duplicate applications for membership, and examine, 
approve or disapprove thereof, and certify them in 
order and report thereon, either to the Society or to 
its Council, or to a committee of the Society, or other- 
wise as by By-laws the Society may have required. 
Before and after such report he may require of the 
applicant for membership correction of his papers or 
further proofs. He shall notify the Secretary, and also 
the Treasurer, of each member elected, and of his res- 
idence, place of business and post-office address, and 
of the date of election. Upon the approval of any 
member he shall endorse upon the original application 
the date of his approval and forward same to the 
Registrar General for approval. Upon return of same 
duly approved and the applicant duly elected and qual- 
ified as an Associate, he shall retain one copy of each 
application and cause the same to be bound into books 



— 16 — 

as the Council may direct. He shall retain all such 
historical information as shall accompany applications 
for membership, furnishing copies thereof to the His- 
torian when requested so to do, after applications have 
been accepted. He shall perform such other duties 
as his Society or its Council shall order. He shall 
report in writing at the annual meeting of the Society, 
and at such other times as the Society or its Council 
shall direct. 



Section IX. 

Genealogist, 

The Genealogist shall examine and report to the 
Council upon all appeals from the decision or failure 
to act on the part of the Registrar, which shall be 
submitted to him, for that purpose. 



Section X. 

Historiaji, 

The Historian shall have custody of all historical 
documents, and patriotic documents, and documents 
and papers relating to the genealogy and history of 
the first colonists, their ancestors and their descend- 
ants, belonging to the Society or its Council, or loaned 
to it or under its control. He shall act as necrologist. 
He shall make a report in writing at the annual meet- 
ing of the Society, and at such other times as the 
Society or its Council shall direct. 



—17— 
Section XI. 

Chaplain, 

It shall be the duty of the Chaplain to open all 
meetings of the Society with prayer, and perform such 
other duties as ordinarily appertain to such office. 



Section XII. 

Council. 

The Council shall consist of eighteen, namely : The 
Governor, Deputy Governor, Chaplain, Secretary, 
Treasurer, States Attorney, Registrar, Genealogist, 
Historian, and nine Councillors ; all of whom shall 
be elected as hereinbefore provided. In case of a 
vacancy in any of these offices, the Council may fill 
the same until the next annual election. 

The Council shall hold meetings whenever called 
by the Governor, shall manage the affairs of the 
Society when the Society is not in session, and no 
debt shall be contracted or obligation incurred in 
the name of the Society without the consent of the 
Council unless authorized by a two-thirds vote of 
the associates present at a meeting of the Society. 

They shall have charge of all special meetings of 
the Society, and shall, through the Secretary, call 
special meetings at any time, upon the written request 
of seven members of the Society, and at such other 
times as they may see fit. They shall recommend 
plans for promoting the objects of the Society, shall 



— 18— 

digest and prepare business, and shall authorize the 
disbursement and expenditure of unappropriated 
money in the treasury, for the payment of the current 
expenses of the Society. They shall generally super- 
intend the interests of the Society, and execute all 
such duties as may be committed to them by the Soci- 
ety. They shall have power to constitute and appoint 
all committees that they may deem necessary to carry 
out the objects and advance the interests of the Order 
and this Society, or benefit the members thereof. At 
each annual meeting of the Society they shall make 
a general report. 

The Council shall have power to remove from of&ce 
any of&cer or Councillor for any violation of the Con- 
stitution or By-laws of the Order, or for conduct 
unbecoming a patriot or a good citizen, but only after 
an opportunity to be heard, and, pending the inquiry, 
it may suspend the person so charged, and delegate 
his duties to another associate. 

The Council may provide for other ofEcers, and for 
a deputy or assistant to an officer of the Society, but 
no such of&cer shall thereby become a member of the 
Council, and shall have only such powers and perform 
such duties as the Council shall provide. 

At all meetings of the Council five (5) members 
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi- 
ness, except that when money is appropriated, or 
action affecting property is taken, the consent of at 
least three Councillors shall be obtained. 



—19— 

Section XIII. 

Committee on Me^nbership, 

The Council shall appoint annually three members 
thereof as a Committee on Membership, whose duty 
it shall be to pass upon the applications of candidates 
for admission to the Society, and report to the Regis- 
trar. 

Section XIV. 

Members in Arrears. 

The Council shall have the power to drop from the 
roll the name of any member of the Society, who shall 
be at least one year in arrears in the payment of dues, 
and who, on notice to pay the same, shall fail and 
neglect to do so within thirty days thereafter ; and, 
upon being thus dropped, his membership shall cease 
and terminate ; but he may be restored to membership 
at any time by a majority of the Council, on his appli- 
cation therefor, and upon his payment of all such 
arrears and of the annual dues from the date when he 
was dropped to the date of his restoration. 

Section XV. 
Notices. 

It shall be the duty of every member to inform the 
Secretary, by written communication, of his post-of&ce 
address and of any change thereof. Service of any 
notice required under the Constitution and By-laws 
of the Order, or the By-laws of this Society, shall 



-20 



be sufficient if addressed to eacli member at his last 
recorded address, and forwarded by mail. All notices 
of Society's meetings shall be mailed at least five 
days before the time appointed for such meeting. 

Section XVI. 

Seal. 

The seal of the Society shall be two and one-half 
inches in diameter; Or, within a beaded annulet a 
scroll bearing the title : " The Order of the Founders 
and Patriots of America 1607-1776. Connecticut 
Society." Over All, On a shield of St. George a bible 
proper surmounted by an acorn or. Crest : a branch 
of Oak proper fructed or. Supporters Two Continental 
Soldiers. 

Section XVII. 

Alteration of By-laws, 

No alteration of the By-laws of the Society shall be 
made unless such alteration shall have been proposed 
at a previous meeting, and shall be adopted by a 
majority of the members present at a subsequent meet- 
ing of the Society, at least two weeks' notice thereof 
having been given to each member. 

Section XVIII. 
Suspension of By-laws. 

The By-laws of this Society may be temporarily 
suspended at any regularly called meeting of the Soci- 
ety or Council, but only upon the unanimous vote of 
the associates present at such meeting. 



^S 1 




.T' 






^0 c 







>°-nK " 









Cvi c 









s • • 



*V » ' - ' 










0^ : 
'\^ % '"^ .r 










^ <nV s * # , ^^ < V 



« • o, 




o 
• C? ^rs •» ^MMIfl^^ o A^"\^ o 












